it was a very normal day. well almost. went into work and was going thru the usual highs and lows. then my boss walked in and said that it had been raining pritty hard. we should all probably head home. so we left - me and rajiv by road heading south to bandra. it was about 3 pm. it looked like it was 7. we start driving, and really i have no idea where we are. pick up his wife and head to the crossover from east to west via sion. here we hit the traffic jam. stuck in almost the exact sae spot for over and hour. it was still early, we got to watch the water level rise slowly up. we were on the lower half of the street. the water came up, we inched forward. it slowly began to seep into the car. just bearly enough to wet the floor mats at first, but soon our shoes were submerged. then rajiv, god bless him decides better to risk maybe flooding the engine than certinly gettin flodded in. so he guns it and we slowly but surly emerge from the rising waters. finally hit bandra at about six. there we parted ways, him and her headed north to ville parle, me south to home. nothing as moving in bandra. the trains had just been shut down, the traffic was all backed up. my first thought was find a hotel and bunk down, but the water was about calf lenghts and i didnt feel like wading ( you will see the irony of this later on). so i decided to start walking south, through the traffic towards home. the walk is uneventfull till dadar, with only the suprizing lack of cards on one side of the road was a give away. i reach dadar to a realy treat. the streets are packed, cars, trucks, busses et all. but not a sound. no horns, no engines, just quiet. i walk on and see why. the water is about knee lenght here. nothing is moving except for the people. i met this guy akshay who was doing the opposite journey. we stop under dadar fly over for a cig break. then boost each other on and dive into the water. well wade in actually. the water slowly keeps rising, knees, thighs, waist. the images , the sights just kept me going, dadar station where the water had come upto platform level, the sheer caos under the fly over. the teeming moving mass of people and umbrellas moving between the submerged cars. the cheering every timethere was thunder, the huddeling around those few chai-stall which were still open. finally i reached the parel fly over... as i begin to climb up it i feel the water fall away. i make it to the top and i'm thru. technically the worst was over.. it was free movement from here on, but there still wern't any cabs. i reached the ITC and check in for the night. 830 pm. nothing like a hot bath,room service, confy white robe, fluffy pillows, roomy warm bed and my mistress to make it all seem worth it. i slept like a baby. folks showed up the next afternoon to take me back home. by this time south south bombay was back on its feet , business as usual. the north was still shut down. wednesday and thursday are holidays. tomorrow its back to work.  ¶ 7/28/2005 01:17:00 PM